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The art of living is the art of knowing how to believe lies. The fearful thing about it is that, not knowing what truth may be, we can still recognize lies.

— Cesare Pavese This Business of Living (1935)

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Honesty

More quotes by Cesare Pavese

He told me that it isn't what you do but how you do it that shows whether you are clever or not.

The Moon and the Bonfire (1950)

You've got to understand life, understand it when you're young.

The Beach (1941)

The real affliction of old age is remorse.

The Moon and the Bonfire (1950)

The whole problem of life, then, is this: how to break out of one's own loneliness, how to communicate with others.

This Business of Living (1935)

In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.

This Business of Living (1935)

All Cesare Pavese quotes →

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You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.

Julian Assange

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

Socrates

It is better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be stupid and speak lies.

Solomon

Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My heart detests him as the gates of hell.

Homer Iliad (-750)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Cesare Pavese (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.